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Management
How Does Fintech Affect Ecommerce?
October 19, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
Fintech is the practice of applying technology to the financial services sector. Traditional financial institutions utilize it mainly to manage accounting and other back-office services. More recently, thanks to advances ... Read More »
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Management
Ecommerce Briefs: Amazon and Kohl’s, Food Wars, Toys”R”Us
October 9, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
“Ecommerce Briefs” is my occasional series on news and developments from online merchants. In this installment, I’ll address: Amazon’s new partnership with Kohl’s; activity in the U.S. online food delivery ... Read More »
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Management
Can Experiential Retailing Help Brick-and-mortar Stores?
September 25, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
The theory behind experiential retailing is that people are bored with buying tangible goods; what they really crave is experiences. When shoppers really need things, they can buy them online ... Read More »
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Management
Ecommerce Briefs: Walmart Steps Up Acquisitions
September 14, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
One economic sector’s implosion is another sector’s lucky break. Physical store closures are disproportionately occurring in the apparel category, pushing more consumers to online clothing shopping. Seizing the opportunity for ... Read More »
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Management
Ecommerce in the Middle East: Small but Promising Market
August 24, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
The Middle East, long a laggard when it comes to online shopping, caught the attention of the industry earlier this year when Amazon purchased Souq, a local online marketplace. New ... Read More »
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Management
Ecommerce Briefs: Amazon’s Earnings; Walmart’s In-store Pickup
August 10, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
“Ecommerce Briefs” is my occasional series on news and developments from online merchants. In this installment, I’ll decipher Amazon’s Q2 2017 financial results and its recently-announced returns policy for certain marketplace ... Read More »
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Management
Amazon Prime Day 2017 Smashes Sales Record
July 18, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
Amazon held its third annual Prime Day on July 11. The event actually began the evening of July 10 and offered 30 hours of deals instead of the 24 offered ... Read More »
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Management
The Explosive Growth of Cross-border Ecommerce
July 12, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
While domestic online sales in the United States and the European Union will continue to increase — taking sales away from brick-and-mortar stores — growth rates will flatten out over ... Read More »
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Management
For Amazon, Is Whole Foods a Grocery Chain or a Distribution Network?
June 20, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
The announcement that Amazon is buying Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, or $42 a share, generated an enormous amount of commentary, with financial and technology analysts chiming in on ... Read More »
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Management
Will Shopping Malls Survive?
June 13, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
From the 1950s when they were initially built, through the early 2000s, shopping malls were the backbone of retail shopping — attracting consumers with convenient parking and a wide selection ... Read More »
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Management
Teen Shopping Habits and Trends
May 11, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
While marketers are preoccupied with satisfying the needs of millennials, another demographic group with enormous spending power is nipping at their heels: teenagers. There are about 26 million teens in the United ... Read More »
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Management
Has Crowdfunding from Ordinary Investors Been Successful?
May 1, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
May 2017 marks the one-year anniversary of the implementation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of Regulation CF crowdfunding for non-accredited investors. Some observers believe it is a disaster while ... Read More »
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Marketing
Amazon Takes On the Digital Advertising Industry
April 13, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
Amazon, the ecommerce giant, is showing greater interest in the digital advertising arena, expanding its offerings and attracting a new type of client: big brands that advertise on television and ... Read More »
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Management
FedEx to Challenge Amazon for Ecommerce Fulfillment
March 15, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
1994. Ecommerce is in its infancy. A new company in Bellevue, Washington begins selling books online. Business analysts wonder if people will buy products online. Most people are skeptical. 2017. That ... Read More »
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Management
Dissecting Amazon’s 2016 Financial Performance
February 9, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
For years when Amazon failed to show a profit, financial analysts were unperturbed. Now that Amazon is profitable, it is taking a hit for not being profitable enough and missing ... Read More »
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Management
2016 Holiday Ecommerce Wrap-up
January 12, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
Despite concerns that political turmoil would dampen holiday spending, ecommerce sales made a strong showing in 2016. Even with a sluggish November start, revenues increased by 11 percent over 2015, ... Read More »
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Management
Ecommerce Companies Sought-after Acquisition Targets
December 22, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
2016 was a tough year for initial public offerings of venture-capital-backed ecommerce companies. However, it was a year of notable acquisitions of ecommerce companies by large retail chains and consumer ... Read More »
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Management
Sales Report: 2016 Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday
December 1, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
Amidst concerns that election results would dampen November holiday spending, consumers expressed confidence in the economy by spending a total of $12.8 billion online in the U.S. during the five-day ... Read More »
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Management
China’s 2016 Singles Day Establishes New Sales Record
November 16, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
Ignoring concerns about their country’s slowing economy, Chinese shoppers spent a record amount of money in the 24-hour period on Nov. 11 known as Singles Day. Written numerically, 11.11 represents “bare ... Read More »
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Management
Shift in Holiday Shopping Benefits Ecommerce
November 9, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
Analysts are predicting that 2016 holiday ecommerce shopping will break records as national economic indicators improve and consumer purchasing continues its shift from physical stores to the Internet. Following are ... Read More »
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Management
Amazon’s B2B Site Evolving, Growing Rapidly
October 12, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
When AmazonSupply became Amazon Business in April 2015, much more than a rebranding occurred. With AmazonSupply, the company was the only seller. But Amazon Business copied the very successful marketplace ... Read More »
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Management
Amazon Juggernaut Rolls; Third-party Sellers Benefit
September 13, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
Amazon’s 2016 second-quarter financial statements for the period ending June 30 showed robust growth, extending its profitability to a fifth straight quarter after years of spotty results. Revenue was $30.4 billion compared ... Read More »
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Management
In Acquiring Jet, Walmart Seeks Younger, Higher-income Consumers
August 16, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
Last week Walmart purchased online merchant Jet for $3 billion in cash plus up to $300 million in Walmart shares to Jet founders. While this is a lot of money, ... Read More »
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Management
Ecommerce in Israel: Cross Border Shopping Dominates
August 10, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
With a population of 8.2 million, Israel may not seem like a particularly lucrative ecommerce market. However because of unique domestic circumstances, Israel is an excellent candidate for cross border ... Read More »
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Management
Equity Crowdfunding Investments Open for Everyone
July 13, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
It took four years after President Obama signed the JOBS Act, but the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finally allows businesses to solicit people who are not considered wealthy to ... Read More »
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Marketing
Will LinkedIn Change after Microsoft Purchase?
June 15, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
On Monday Microsoft announced that it is acquiring LinkedIn — the social media site for business professionals — for $26.2 billion in a cash deal, its biggest acquisition ever. The ... Read More »
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Marketing
Focus on Existing Customers for Better Profitability
June 9, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
Should ecommerce merchants direct their resources to finding new customers or marketing to existing ones? The answer, according to most experts, is that companies achieve better return on investment by nurturing their ... Read More »
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Design & Development
7 SaaS Subscription-billing Solutions, for 2016
May 11, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
My 2012 article, “9 SaaS Subscription-Billing Solutions,” garnered many comments and requests for an update. So with this post, I am providing a new list of providers. This is not ... Read More »
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Management
6 Alternative Funding Resources for Ecommerce Businesses
April 13, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
Small businesses often struggle to find affordable funds to keep their businesses running. Online lending solutions offer an alternative to conventional bank loans with the advantages of a much shorter ... Read More »
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Management
How to Attract B2B Buyers to Ecommerce
February 11, 2016 • Marcia Kaplan
Today’s B2B buyers have fewer constraints than those of 10 years ago. To decrease costs, even enterprise companies are streamlining their purchasing processes, including increased online purchasing without the traditional ... Read More »
Marcia Kaplan
Marcia Kaplan is a contributor for Practical Ecommerce. She's also a freelance business writer and researcher, living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has written for trade magazines, newspapers, and technology companies.
Marcia has an M.B.A. from San Jose State University in California and a B.A. in sociology from Binghamton University in New York. Email Marcia.
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